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Revista de Divulgación del INSTITUTO DE MEDICINA FORENSE de la UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA

2020, Number 2

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Rev Mex Med Forense 2020; 5 (2)

Observations of forensic implications on Equus sp. remains. Post-depositational alterations, bone survival and post-mortem interval

Atilio N

Language: Spanish
References: 72
Page: 10-30
PDF size: 831.60 Kb.


ABSTRACT

Objective: The objective of this work was to monitor a corpse of Equus sp for a year in a semi-desert environment on the coast of the province of Buenos Aires with the aim of revieling some of the post-depositation alterations that affect it, (wind erosion, weathering, disarticulation, trampling abrasion and dispersion).
Methodology: In order to assess the integrity of the sample, measures of abundance of skeletal parts were calculated. The MNE (minimum number of elements), the MAU (minimum anatomical units) and the %MAU (minimum anatomical units standardized in percentages) were obtained.
Results: A diachronic model is presented, where the processes of tissue dehydration, disarticulation by scavengers and wind erosion by meteoric action, would be present progressively from the first six months of death, while the abrasion and trampled dispersion, mainly produced by pedestrian traffic, would manifest once the disarticulation process has advanced, i.e. from six months of exposure.
Discussion: The scatter of the anatomical parts are traced up to 10 m from their original position, losing the record of many bones disappearing from the surface from the eighth month. Just as different post-depositational phenomena alter the remains of Equus, also other factors such as sedimentation of wind origin (between December and March) collaborate in conservation.
Conclusions: Although the various post-depositational phenomena contribute to the destruction and loss of the bone record, sedimentation, would preserve low-density bones, altering the survival profile of expected bones.


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